British trade envoy to Egypt visits Cairo and Alexandria

British trade envoy to Egypt Jeffrey Donaldson has arrived in Egypt on 11 February 2018, for a five-day visit to discuss trade relationship between the countries on the sectors of oil and gas, education, infrastructure and health

The UK is Egypt’s one of the largest foreign investors and this visit is an opportunity to further deepen the trade links between the countries by exploring investment opportunities across Egypt.

More than 50 companies will participate including existing investors in Egypt such as Bombardier, Fujitsu, Mott MacDonald and GSK, as well as companies looking to invest for the first time in the country.

The delegation includes 33 companies from the Scottish Development International and six from the Energy Industries Council, whose companies focus on the oil and gas industry. It also includes 14 companies from the transport and healthcare sector, and four companies focused on opportunities in the education sector.

During the visit, Donaldson will meet with Tarek Kabil, minister of trade and industry in Egypt, along with other ministers in various departments of government.

Donaldson said, “This is the largest trade delegation I have brought to Egypt, and is a very encouraging sign of the vast potential British companies are seeing in investing in Egypt’s future.”

“Egypt and the UK are working to ensure that their trade relationship remains as strong as ever, by ensuring continuity of effect post-Brexit, which means in real terms that the investment links between the two countries can continue to go from strength to strength,” he added.

John Casson, British ambassador to Egypt, noted, “The UK, as Egypt’s top economic partner, is here to support Egypt, through our work with the Egyptian government, through StartEgypt, our new fund to support Egyptian start-ups, and through our business-to-business links."

“The next step is to ensure that these reforms have a real impact on the lives of everyday Egyptians, by creating jobs, and it’s exciting to see so many British companies looking to invest here in order to do just that,” Casson concluded.